Method of and means for regulating temperature in transport vehicles



May 18. 1954 A N CAMPBELL 2,678,546

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR REGULATING TEMPERATURE IN TRANSPORT VEHICLES FiledOct. 22. 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 CAMPBELL METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR REGULATING TEMPERATURE IN TRANSPORT VEHICLES mw wm N "m S Mayls. 1954 Filed 05h. 22, 1951 Patented May 18, 1954 UNITED STATES ATENT GFFICE METHOD IOF AND MEANS FOR REGU- LATING TEMPERATURE IN TRANS- PORT VEHICLES Allan N. Campbell, Montreal,` Quebec, Canada Application October 22, 1951, Serial No. 252,545

.2,1 Claims.` l

Y hiclev body; by either cooling or heating as circumstances require, that will maintain a temperature` safe for the. loadzwithin` the Vvehicle and substantially uniform inallparts .thereof and for long periods of time, irrespective of changes'in externa-l temperature. A still further object is to providea self-.contained meansfor and method of precooling a refrigerated vehicle. object is to provide means and method for taking advantage of the superiority of mechanical refrigeration over water-ice and saltrefrigeration toa greater extent than has been done heretofore. An additional object is to provide temperature regulating means for vehicles which does not encroach onther load space within the vehicle. Various other objects and the advantages` of the invention1 may be ascertained from the following description and the .accompanying drawings.

For simplicity of explanation, the invention will be. described in-its` application to a railway refrigerator car but it will be understood it` is not so limited and that it may `beapplied to road and other vehicles.

Broadly speaking, the inventionconsists, as to method, in establislriingV a current of temperature regulated air flowingdownwardly in the walls `of one transverse half of a vehicle bojdy,

laterallyT ofv the body beneath the` loadA spacev therein, and upwardly in the walls of the other'` transverse half ofthe body anolboth` transversely and longitudinally-of thebody, immediately under the roof thereof; and consists, as to apparatus, inf the provisionoi separate plenum chambers the root of `a vehicle, each extending from end: to end of the vehicle, said chambers communicating with the upper ends of vertical air` flues. formed in the thickness of the vehicle side and s end walls, the lower ends of said nues on one side of the vehicle coirnnurucating` throughY transverse air `passages beneath the load space in the vehicle; with the lower ends of the; ilues in the other sideof the vehicle,` and in the` provision of Another mechanical air cooling means, electrical air heating means and mechanical air circulating means, all located immediately under the roof of the vehicle approximately midway between the vehicle ends and approximately midway between the Vehicle sides, said means being adapted to draw air from one yplenum chamber and force it into the other plenum chamber.

In greater detail, the invention consists in the features and combinations offeatures herein dis.- closed, together with all suchmodifcations thereof and substitutions of equivalents therefor as are within the scope of the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate one embodiment of the invention in its application to a railway refrigerator car, but to the` details of which the invention is not limited:

Fig. 1 is a horizontal sectional view of a car at the line l-l of Fig. 2, diagrammatically illustrating the plenum chambers, air nues and air temperature regulating and air circulating means.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic longitudinal` vertical sectional view of `a car at the lines 2 2 of Figs. l and 3.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a car at the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view, on an enlarged scale as compared with previousrigures, taken at approximately the level ofthe line l-l of Fig. 2 illustrating` the relation ofthe fines to the car wall.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional View, on an` enlarged scale, at approximately the mid-part of the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, showing an elevation of the discharge side of one of the air temperature regulating means, asseen in Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of the upper part of a car body, at approximately the line 6 5 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings',

il designates the door, l2 the side walls, i3 the end walls and lll the roof of a refrigerator car body, each of which body elements includes an outer shell indicated at I5 and an inner shell or lining it spaced from the outer shell so as to form an insulating space Il between the shells, in which the frame members lll and l of* the outer and inner shells, respectively, are disposed.

A ceiling 2li is provided a short distance below the roof lining and extends from end to end and side to side of the ear so as to completely isolate the space between it and the roof lining from the load space below` it.

A series of shallow pans El are disposed in the insulating spaces l? of the side and end walls, between the frame members thereof, and extend from the roof lining to the floor lining, the pans being disposed with their concave surfaces facing the wall linings and their edges in close contact with the wall linings. These pans and the wall linings combine to form iiues 2i. extending from floor to roof outside the wall linings. Ports 23 are provided through the wall linings in the space.

between the ceiling and the roof lining to communicate this space with the upper ends of the lues. Similar ports 2d are provided through the wall linings immediately above the door lining and below the level or the usual door racks 25 to communicate the lower ends of the nues with the space between the floor lining and the floor racks.

Members 2S extending longitudinally ci the car underlie the stringers of the door racks and are formed 'with upwardly projecting portions 2l spaced along the length thereof and supportingly engaging the stringere of the floor racks. The spaces 28 between the projections 2l form passages enabling air to flow from side to side of the car under the floor racks. Preferably, the spaces 28 of the several members 25 are in alignment across the car and in alignment with the ports 24 so as to provide unobstructed passages across the car from the iues at one side to those at the other side. Conveniently, the members 2t may be metal bars bent to zig-zag form, as shown, or providedY with transverse corrugations more closely spaced than the projections 2.

l Additional ports 2S are provided through the lining of one side wall of the car, immediately below the ceiling, to communicate the load space of the'car with the dues at that side of the car. Dampers 3d are hingedly mounted in position to cover the ports 29 andmay be provided with any suitable means, not shown, for releasably holding them in any desired position.

- The car is provided with the usual doorways 3l iitted with doors 32. The dues above the doorways, designated 22a, open at their lower ends through the lintels of the doorways. Vertical lues 22b are provided in the doors to register with the iues 22a when the doors are closed and these flues 22lo communicate at their lower ends, through openings in the doorway sills (not shown) with the air space between the oor lining and the oor racks. Near their upper ends, the flues 2iIl are provided with dampers 33 having operating means 33a located conveniently to the doorways'whereby the ilues 212a may be closed when the doors are open.

' If desired a series of independently adjustable dampers 3f; may be provided between the center andreach end of the car, on one or both sides thereof, to selectively adjust the eiective sizes of the ports 23.

A partition 35 is provided in the space between the ceiling 2l! and the roof lining and extends from end to end of the car approximately midway between the sides and irom the ceiling to the roof lining. This partition divides the space above the ceiling into two plenum chambers 3b and 3l, each extending the full length of the car and communicating with the upper ends of the ilues 22. The end portions 38 of the partition may be diverted from the general plane thereof so as to bring the central iiues or" the car ends into communication with the plenum chamber 3?. In the mid-portion of the car the partition 35 is offset somewhat from its general plane so as to narrow the chamber el. 'Midway between the i ends of the car a transverse partition 3S extends across the chamber y37, from the partition 35 to the side wall of the car, so as to divide the chamber 3'! into two parts.

IThe evaporator of a mechanical reirigerating unit designated as a whole by the numeral 69, is mounted in the chamber 38, midway between the ends thereof, and is illustrated as divided into two sections disposed, respectively, on opposite sides of the cross partition 39. Each section of the evaporator comprises a casing di set into the partition 35 and opening into the chamber 31, and a refrigerant expansion element t2 within the casing. The expansion element may be of any well known orvother type suitable for the purpose, such as spaced hollow plates or the spaced pipe coils illustrated. Each casing dl is connected at its side remote from the chamber 37 with one or more blowers di; arranged to draw air from the chamber 3d and driven by electric motors ill mounted in a housing va5 forming an air tight separation from the chamber 36. housing may be vented through the car roof. It will thus be seen that the sole direct communication between the chambers 36 and 3l is through the blowers and the evaporator casings.

Each evaporator section has associated with it an electric resistance heating means t6 for deirosting the evaporator and an underlying drip pan il to catch liquid resulting from such defrosting. A drain pipe d8 leads from each pan 4l into the top of an adjacent flue 22.

Deiiecting plates Il!! and extending from the ceiling to the roof lining, are provided in the v constricted portion of the chamber 31, on each side of the cross partition C39 and are disposed at angles of approximately to the car side and inclining from the evaporator toward the car ends, to deflect air emerging from the evaporator toward the car ends. The plates Q9 extend from near the junction of theevaporator casing with the cross partition 39 to the side wall at points slightly beyond the flues 22a and provide only narrow passages 5l to admit air from the evaporator to the iiues 22a. The other deiiecting plates 5i! extend approximately parallel with thev first plates de from points near the outer ends of the evaporator, toward the car side and ends. The free end portions of these plates may be curved from their angular relation to the car side into parallelism therewith and terminate approximately midway between the partition 35 and the adjacent car side. These plates 49 and 5c, in conjunction with the side wall of the car, form choked passages 52 leading from the major portions of the evaporator discharge openings to the car side .and directed toward the car ends.

VIn the operation of the structure just described,-v

the blowers 43 draw air up through the 'dues 22 in the side and end walls of one transverse half of the car and through the plenum chamber 36,

from the ends of the car toward the transverse center, and force the air through the evaporator, with heat regulating effect, and into the plenum chamber 3l. In the chamber 3l the airis distributed by the deiiecting plates 49 and 58 to produce a substantially uniform flow to all ilues which communicate with the chamber 3l, that is, all the nues 22 and 22e in the side and end walls of the other transverse half of the car.

The arrangement oi the delecting plates SS and 59 provides that the major portion of air leaving the evaporator flows between these plates and is thereby directed along the car side, towardv the ends thereof and in close proximity to the The aromas/lef ports 23` leading to, the fl-ues.` 221;;whilefa minor portion` flowing through; the restricted: openings;

5 [goes to the-nues 22@ over thedoors-and through; the door lines 22h; "and, another minor portion flows over the end facing surfaces of the. plates 50 and is deflected away from the ports 23 but toward the car ends and spreads through that' part of the chamber 3l between the partition `Fili and the current leaving the passages 52. The restrictedoutlets of the choked passagesEZ cause the velocity of the major portion of the air to be increased so that the air streams persist to the ends of the` cartand the air is distributed approximately uniformly to all the flues 22 which communicate with the plenum passage 3l.

VAir which enters flues 22` from the chamber 3l descends through them and then flows` across the car, `under the floor racks', and through the ports 24 into the lower ends of the flues 22 in the other transverse half of thecars and rises through these nues into the chamber 36 by reason of the suction of theblowers. It will thus be seen that a circulation of air is created flowing -mainly transversely of the car and substantially coinpletely enveloping the load space, but isolated therefrom. It is only in the plenum chambers 36 and 3l that there is any iiowI longitudinally of the car and it will be noted that even here there is transverse flow from one side of the car' to the blowers and evaporator from them to the other side of the car.

If desired, the dampers 3d may be adjusted to reduce the effective size of the ports 23 progressively from the ends of the car toward the center, thereby to supplement the air flow equalizing effect of the defiecting plates. i

From the foregoing it will be seen that when a car is being cooled, there is established a. descending flow of cooled air substantially uniformly throughout the side and end walls of one transverse half of the oar and an ascending how of slightly less cool air substantially uniformly throughout the side and end walls of the other transverse half of the car. The capacity of the evaporator and of the blowers should be such that, with the outer shell l2 at a temperature of 175 li., the temperature of air returning to the blowers is not more` than 5oA F. higher than the` temperature of` air leaving the evaporator..

If the load in the car is dense, for, example, closely packedcases, substantially none of the` air flowing across the door will rise through the floor. racks but if the load is ,not dense, for example, fruit or vegetables in crates, some of the air flowing across the floor may rise through the load space. YThis air finds its way to the ports 29 and flows through them into the upper ends of the flues and into the plenum chamber 32SY to rejoin the main circulation. Any such short circuiting of air may be regulated as desired, or even prevented, by suitably adjusting the dampers 30.

It is a feature of this invention that it is particularly adaptable to precooling a car duringv the loading thereof. To effect such precooling, the dampers '53 over the` open doorway are closed so that there is no loss of cooled air through the flues l2a if the open door is on the discharge side of the blowers and no intake of warm air if the open door is on the suction side of the blowers. i. Little ifany cooled air will be lost through the floor racks since air liowingl across the floor is cooler and heavier than. the outside air and will hug the floor andl tend `to follow the established channel by `reasonof the suction ofk the blowers.

Also, because or theheavler coolairflowing-undeir the floorrracks, little,` if any' warm; air will. be drawn through the lioor4 racks and intothef cire culation.

In extremely cold weather, when itis necessary to protect-the load in the car: from freezing, the cooling may `be discontinued and the defrosting means` operated for such` periods of time asy arel necessary to counteract the external tempera-1 ture. rlhe blows 43 will then force a circulation of warmed air around the car, betweenV the outer and inner shells thereof, in the manner already described. The stopping and starting of the cooling and the heating operations may be man-f ually controlled butare preferably under thermostat control so as to automatically maintain the temperature within a range suitable for the load?.

It will be notedL that the motors 44 areseparated from the plenum chambers by' an air tight housing and that they are thus isolated from the air' circulating around or through the loading space` so that the load is protected against any possibility of absorbing motor odours or heat, which may escape through the` roof vent of the housing;

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. A refrigerated `transport vehicle comprising a body including a floor, side and end walls and a roof enclosing a load space in combination with the cooling ele-ment, of a mechanical refrigerating unit, said element being located close under the roof and approximately midway between the ends of said vehicle; and means' for establishing a current of air from said air cooling element flowing exclusively downwardly in the'- side and end walls of one transverse halfV of: the vehicle, across the floor beneath the load space',A and exclusively upwardly in the side and end' walls of the other transverse half of the vehicle;` returning to said cooling element.

2. A refrigerated transport vehicle comprisingA a body including a hoor, side and end walls and a roof enclosing a load space in combination with the cooling element of a mechanical refrig- 'er-ating unit, said element being located close under the roof and approximately midway between the ends of said vehicle; and means including a` pair of roof chambersy each extending from end to end of the vehicle for establishing a current of air flowing from said cooling element toward the ends of the car, along one side thereof and above` andi isolated from the load space, downwardly in the side and end walls of one transversehalf'of the vehicle, across Athe floor beneath theload space, upwardly in the side and endy walls of the other transverse half of the vehicle; and from the ends and side of thev vehicle, above and' isolated from the load space, to said cooling element.

3. A refrigerated transport vehicle accord-ing^ to-claiin` 2, in which said means for establishing.

tance below the body roof; a wall extending from thev ceiling to theroof and from end to Yend of thebody;l substantiallyvertical flues in the body sides and ends communicating with the space ahoye'saidceiling; transverse air passages across the bodyfloor, beneath the loa-d space, commui'iica'ting `the fllics on o-ne side ofthe longitudinal center of the body with the nues on th'eother sidefof: the longitudinal centerr of thev body', a-

y. passage through said wall and the cooling element of a mechanical reirigerating unit disposed in said wall passage.

5. A refrigerated transport vehicle comprising a thermally insulated body enclosing a lo-ad space; a ceiling in the body spaced a short dis'- tance below the body roof and extending from end to end and from side to side of the body; a wall extending from end to end of the body, at approximately the longitudinal center line of the body, and from the ceiling to the body roof anddividing the space above the ceiling intov two chambers, each extending from end to end of the body; substantially vertical flues in the body sides and ends, communicating at their upper ends with said chambers; transverse air passages above the body licor and beneath theload space communicating the flues on one side of the longitudinal center or" the body with the flues on the other side thereof; a communicating passage between said chambers, located approximately midway between the ends of the body; the cooling element of a mechanical refrigerating unit disposed in said passage between said chambers; and blower means to draw air from one said chamber and force it through said passage in cooling contact with said cooling element and into the othersaid chamber.

, 6.. A refrigerated transport vehicle comprising a thermally insulated body enclosing a load space; a ceiling in the body spaced a short distance below the body roof and extending from end to end and side to side of the body; a wall extending from end to end of the body, at approximately the longitudinal center line of the bodyJ and from the ceiling to the body roof and dividing the space above the ceiling into a suction chamber and a pressure chamber, each extending from end to end oit the bodyY and from said wall to a side of the body; substantially vertical suction fiues and pressure flues in the body sides and ends, communicating at their upper ends with said suction and pressure chambers, respectively; transverse air passages above the body floor and beneath said loa-d space, communicating the lower ends of the pressure iiues with the lower ends of the suction flues; a communicating passage between said suction chamber and said pressure chamber, disposed approximately midway between the ends of the body; the cooling element of a mechanical refrigerating unit disposed in said passage; and blower means to draw air up in said suction iiues and through said suction passage from the ends toward the center of the body and discharge said air thro-ugh said communicating passage, in cooling Contact with said cooling element, into said pressure chamber and into said pressure flues.

7. Structure according to claim 6 in which the blower means delivers air into the pressure chamber in a direction transverse of the body, in combination with means in the path of air delivered by the blower means adapted to direct the air toward the ends of the vehicle.

8. Structure according to claim 6 in which the longitudinal wall separating the suction chamber from the pressure chamber is offset in an intermediate portion of its length to narrow the pressure chamber, in combination with air deilecting plates in said'narrowed portion of the pressure chamber, in the path of discharge of said blower means, said plates extending from the ceiling to the roof of the body, on opposite sides of the transverse center of the body, and

8 being disposed in vertical planes inclined to the vertical plane of the body side, the plates on one side of the transverse center of the body being inclined oppositely to the plates on the other side of said transverse center.

9. Structure according to claim 6 in which the blower means discharges transversely of the body, including pluralities of air deflecting plates disposed in the path of air discharged from said blower means and inclined to said path, the inclination of one plurality of plates being opposite to that oi the other plurality of plates and the inclinations being such as to direct air toward the ends of the vehicle.

l0. Structure according to claim 6 including a plurality of air deflecting plates disposed in the path of air leaving said blower means and arranged to divide air leaving the blower means into different unequal streams and to direct said streams, each to a different zone of the pressure chamber.

11. Structure according to claim 6 including series of independently adjustable dampers between said chambers and the ilues related thereto.

12. Structure according to claim 6 including pairs of air defiecting plates disposed in the path of air leaving the blower means and ar-V proximity to the upper endsof the pressure iiues.

13. Structure according to claim 6 in which the vehicle body is provided with doorways in the sides thereof, intermediate the body ends, and in which certain oi the pressure ilues open through the tops of said doorways; including a Y.

pair of deilecting plates in the pressure chamber extending from near the outlet of said communieating passage to the body side wall, said plates being closely spaced at their inner ends and di- Y verging toward the body side wall, the outer ends of said plates being spaced suiciently to span the pressure flues over the doorway; a second pair of deecting plates, each one of which is substantially parallel with a plate of the first pair and disposed between it and the body end and extends from adjacent said communicating passage, at a point somewhat inwardly of the end thereof, toward the body side wall, the free end of each of said second plates terminating at a distance from the side wall which is less than the distance between the iirst andsecond plates, perpendicularly thereof, whereby choked passages between the plates are formed, adapted to increase the velocity of air flowing between the plates and to direct it in streams iiowing Y along the body side toward the body ends; said second plates having their outer end'portions curved substantially to parallelism with the body side thereby to direct air flowing over their surfaces remote from the iirst plates, toward the body ends in streams between the said first mentioned streams and the said longitudinal wall.

14. Structure according to claim 6 including ports in the body side, immediately under the ceiling, communicating the load space oi the body with the upper ends of the suction nues; and adjustable dampers controlling said ports.

15. Structure according to claim 6 including an electric resistance heating means within said 'l5 communicating passage in defrosting relation to said cooling element, whereby air circulated by said blower means may 'ce heated.

16. Structure according to claim 6 including electric motor means in said suction chamber operatively connected to said blower means; and a housing surrounding said motor means and forming an air tight separation of the motor means from said chambers and the air circulating therein.

l'. Structure according to claim 6 including a pair of substantially vertical delecting plates in the pressure chamber extending from near the outlet of said communicating passage toward the adjacent body side wall and diverging toward said side wall; a second pair of substantially vertical deiiecting plates, each of which is substantially parallel with a plate of the first pair and disposed between it and the adjacent body end, the inner ends of said second plates being spaced from the adjacent ends of the outlet of said communicating passage, whereby air may flow from the passage on each side of each said second plate; the airflow passages between the inner ends of said nrst and second plates being each greater than the air dow passage between the inner ends of said first plates; said second plates at least being in part at least curved toward the body ends, thereby to direct air flowing over their surfaces remote from the rst plates, toward the body ends.

18. Structure according to claim 6 in which the cooling element is formed in two parts and the blower means in two parts, one for each part of the cooling element; in combination with a set of substantially vertical deflecting plates associated with each part of the cooling means and extending from the outlet of said passage toward the adjacent body side, the plates of one set diverging from those of the other set.

19. A method of regulating the temperature within a transport vehicle body which comprises adjusting the temperature of a stream of air at a Zone located at the top of the vehicle, midway between the ends thereof; and forcing said temperature adjusted air exclusively downwards at the side and ends of one transverse half of the vehicle body, outside the load space thereof, then transversely across the body under the load space thereof, and then drawing said air exclusively upwardly at the side and ends of the other transverse half of the vehicle body, outside the load space thereof and returning said air to said temperature adjusting zone for readjustment of the temperature thereof and for recirculation as aforesaid.

20. A method of regulating the temperature within a transport vehicle having a 11001', side :and end walls and a roof enclosing a load space, which method comprises adjusting the temperature of a stream of air at a Zone located midway between the ends of the body and between the load space and the roof and isolated from the load space; forcing the temperature adjusted air from said Zone toward the ends of the body, above the load space, and exclusively downwardly at the side and end walls throughout one transverse half of the body, with isolation from the load space; then transversely of the body, beneath the load space; drawing said air exclusively upwardly at the side and end walls throughout the other transverse half of the body; and nally drawing said air over the load space, with isolation therefrom, from the ends of the body back to said temperature adjusting zone.

21. A method of regulating the temperature within a transport vehicle body having a floor, side and end walls and a roof enclosing a load space, which method comprises adjusting the temperature of a stream of air at a zone located midway between the ends of the body and between the roof and the load space and isolated from the load space; distributing the temperature adjusted air above the load space, with isolation therefrom, substantially uniformly between said zone and the body ends in one transverse half of the body; forcing said distributed air exclusively downwardly at the side and end walls throughout one transverse half of the body; then transversely of the body, beheath the load space; drawing said air exclusively upwardly at the side and end walls throughout the other transverse half of the body; collecting said updrawn air above the load space, with isolation therefrom; and returning the co1- lected air from the ends and sides to said zone.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 896,313 Moore Aug. 18, 1908 2,266,238 Newton Dec. 16, 1941 2,331,002 Small Oct. `5, 1943 2,553,471 Protzeller May 15, 1951 2,586,893 Weatling Feb. 2li, 1952 2,591,178 McAdam Apr. 1, 1952 2,619,803 Deering Dec. 2, 1952 

